Michael Sandel
Gen Ed 1181 | Last offered Fall 2023
If a society achieved truly equal opportunity, so that everyone could rise as far as their effort and talent would take them, would it be a just society?
This course explores classical and contemporary theories of justice and applies them to some of the most contested civic questions of our time: debates about equality and inequality; meritocracy; affirmative action; free speech v. hate speech; the moral limits of markets; immigration; climate change; the role of religion in politics; the ethics of algorithms and AI.
Readings from philosophers such as Aristotle, Kant, John Stuart Mill, and John Rawls, and articles on contemporary controversies. The course invites and equips students to reflect critically on their moral and political convictions and to reason with others about hard ethical questions.